Semiconductor power device having a top-side drain using a sinker trench

A semiconductor power device includes a plurality of groups of stripe-shaped trenches extending in a silicon region over a substrate, and a contiguous sinker trench completely surrounding each group of the plurality of stripe-shaped trenches so as to isolate the plurality of groups of stripe-shaped trenches from one another. The contiguous sinker trench extends from a top surface of the silicon region through the silicon region and terminates within the substrate. The contiguous sinker trench is lined with an insulator only along the sinker trench sidewalls so that a conductive material filling the contiguous sinker trench makes electrical contact with the substrate along the bottom of the contiguous sinker trench and makes electrical contact with an interconnect layer along the top of the contiguous sinker trench.

Skip to: Description  ·  Claims  ·  References Cited  · Patent History  ·  Patent History
Description
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/038,184, filed Feb. 27, 2008, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/194,060, filed Jul. 28, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,352,036, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/598,678, filed Aug. 3, 2004. All are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes. Also, this application relates to application Ser. No. 11/026,276 titled “Power Semiconductor Devices and Methods of Manufacture” filed Dec. 29, 2004, which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to semiconductor power devices and more particularly to power devices with top-side drain contact using a sinker trench.

Unlike integrated circuits (ICs) which have a lateral structure with all interconnects available on the upper die surface, many power semiconductor devices have a vertical structure with the back of the die being an active electrical connection. For example, in vertical power MOSFET structures, the source and gate connections are at the top surface of the die and the drain connection is on the back side of the die. For some applications, it is desirable to make the drain connection accessible at the top side. Sinker trench structures are used for this purpose.

In a first technique, diffusion sinkers extending from the top-side of the die down to the substrate (which forms the drain contact region of the device) are used to make the drain contact available at the top surface of the die. A drawback of this technique is that the lateral diffusion during the formation of the diffusion sinkers results in consumption of a significant amount of the silicon area.

In a second technique, metal-filled vias extending from the top-side of the die clear through to the backside of the die are used to bring the back-side contact to the top-side of the die. Although, this technique does not suffer from the loss of active area as in the diffusion sinker technique, it however requires formation of very deep vias which adds to the complexity of the manufacturing process. Further, during conduction, the current is required to travel through long stretches of the substrate before reaching the drain contact, thus resulting in higher device on resistance Ron.

Thus, an improved trench structure for making a back-side contact available at the top-side is desirable.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a semiconductor power device includes a substrate of a first conductivity type and an epitaxial layer of the first conductivity type over and in contact with the substrate. A first trench extends into and terminates within the epitaxial layer. A sinker trench extends from the top surface of the epitaxial layer through the epitaxial layer and terminates within the substrate. The sinker trench is laterally spaced from the first trench, and is wider and extends deeper than the first trench. The sinker trench is lined with an insulator only along the sinker trench sidewalls so that a conductive material filling the sinker trench makes electrical contact with the substrate along the bottom of the trench and makes electrical contact with an interconnect layer along the top of the trench.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a semiconductor power device is formed as follows. An epitaxial layer is formed over and in contact with a substrate. The epitaxial layer and the substrate are of a first conductivity type. A first opening for forming a first trench and a second opening for forming a sinker trench are defined such that the second opening is wider than the first opening. A silicon etch is performed to simultaneously etch through the first and second openings to form the first trench and the sinker trench such that the first trench terminates within the epitaxial layer and the sinker trench terminates within the substrate. The sinker trench sidewalls and bottom are lined with an insulator. The sinker trench is filled with a conductive material such that the conductive material makes electrical contact with the substrate along the bottom of the sinker trench. An interconnect layer is formed over the epitaxial layer such that the interconnect layer makes electrical contact with the conductive material along the top surface of the sinker trench.

In accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention, a semiconductor power device includes a plurality of groups of stripe-shaped trenches extending in a silicon region over a substrate. A contiguous sinker trench completely surrounds each group of the plurality of stripe-shaped trenches so as to isolate the plurality of groups of stripe-shaped trenches from one another. The contiguous sinker trench extends from a top surface of the silicon region through the silicon region and terminates within the substrate. The contiguous sinker trench is lined with an insulator only along the sinker trench sidewalls so that a conductive material filling the contiguous sinker trench makes electrical contact with the substrate along the bottom of the contiguous sinker trench and makes electrical contact with an interconnect layer along the top of the contiguous sinker trench.

In accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention, a semiconductor power device includes a plurality of groups of stripe-shaped gate trenches extending in a silicon region over a substrate. Each of a plurality of stripe-shaped sinker trenches extends between two adjacent groups of the plurality of groups of stripe-shaped gate trenches. The plurality of stripe-shaped sinker trenches extend from a top surface of the silicon region through the silicon region and terminate within the substrate. The plurality of stripe-shaped sinker trenches are lined with an insulator only along the sinker trench sidewalls so that a conductive material filling each sinker trench makes electrical contact with the substrate along the bottom of the sinker trench and makes electrical contact with an interconnect layer along the top of the sinker trench.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a semiconductor package device houses a die which includes a power device. The die includes a silicon region over a substrate. Each of a first plurality of trenches extends in the silicon region. A contiguous sinker trench extends along the perimeter of the die so as to completely surround the first plurality of trenches. The contiguous sinker trench extends from a top surface of the die through the silicon region and terminates within the substrate. The contiguous sinker trench is lined with an insulator only along the sinker trench sidewalls so that a conductive material filling the contiguous sinker trench makes electrical contact with the substrate along the bottom of the contiguous sinker trench and makes electrical contact with an interconnect layer along the top of the contiguous sinker trench. A plurality of interconnect balls arranged in a grid array includes an outer group of the plurality of interconnect balls electrically connecting to the conductive material in the contiguous sinker trench.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a simplified cross sectional view of an exemplary vertical power device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 2-4 show various top layout views of a vertical power device with one or more sinker trenches in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a top view illustrating the locations of interconnect balls in a ball-grid array package relative to a sinker trench extending along the perimeter of a die housed in the ball-grid array package, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a sinker trench terminating within the silicon substrate is filled with a highly conductive material such as doped polysilicon or metallic material. The sinker trench is laterally spaced a predetermined distance from the active region wherein gate trenches are formed. The sinker trench is wider and extends deeper than the gate trenches, and is lined with an insulator only along its sidewalls. This technique eliminates the area loss due to side diffusion of the diffusion sinker approach, and results in improved on-resistance since a more conductive material is used than diffusion. Also, this technique requires a far shallower trench than that needed in the technique where a metal-filled trench extends from the top to the bottom of the die. The on-resistance is improved since the current need not travel through the entire depth of the substrate to reach the drain contact.

FIG. 1 shows a simplified cross sectional view of a vertical trenched-gate power MOSFET structure 100 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. An n-type epitaxial layer 104 extends over an n-type substrate 102 which forms the back side drain. A sinker trench 106 extends from the top surface of epitaxial layer 104 through epitaxial layer 104 terminating within substrate 102. A dielectric layer 110 lines the sinker trench sidewalls. Dielectric layer 110 may be from any one of oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, multilayer of oxide and nitride, any known low k insulating material, and any known high k insulating material. “Oxide” as used in this disclosure means a chemical vapor deposited oxide (SixOy) or a thermally grown silicon dioxide (SiO2). Sinker trench 106 is filled with a conductive material 108 such as doped polysilicon, selective epitaxial silicon (SEG), metal, or metallic compounds. Conductive material 108 is in electrical contact with substrate 102 along the bottom of sinker trench 106. Conductive material 108 thus makes the back-side drain available along the top side for interconnection. With the drain contact moved to the top surface, a back-side metal for contacting substrate 102 is no longer needed, but could be used in conjunction with the top side contact. The back side metal layer may be included for other purposes such as preventing the die from cracking and improving the heat transfer properties of the device.

Well regions 114 of p-type conductivity extend along an upper portion of epitaxial layer 104. Gate trenches 112 are laterally spaced from sinker trench 106 by a predetermined distance S1, and vertically extend from the top surface through p-type well regions 114 terminating at a predetermined depth within epitaxial layer 104. Sinker trench 106 is wider and deeper than gate trenches 112. Gate trenches 112 are lined with a dielectric layer 116. The dielectric along the bottom of gate trenches 112 may optionally be made thicker than the dielectric along the gate trench sidewalls. Each gate trench 112 includes a gate electrode 118 and a dielectric layer 120 atop gate electrode 118 to reduce the gate to drain capacitance. Source regions 122 of n-type conductivity extend along an upper portion of well regions 114. Source regions 122 overlap gate electrodes 118 along the vertical dimension. As can be seen well region 114 terminates a distance away from sinker trench 106. In one embodiment, this distance is dictated by the device blocking voltage rating. In another embodiment, well region 114 terminates at and thus abuts sinker trench 106. In this embodiment, for higher blocking voltage ratings, the thickness of the dielectric layer along sinker trench sidewalls needs to be made larger since the sinker dielectric is required to withstand a higher voltage. This may require a wider sinker trench if the conductive material 108 is required to have a minimum width for current handling purposes.

In the on state, a conduction channel from source regions 122 to epitaxial layer 104 is formed in well regions 114 along gate trench sidewalls. A current thus flows from drain terminal 124 vertically through conductive material 108 of sinker trench 106, then laterally through substrate 102, and finally vertically through epitaxial layer 104, the conduction channel in well regions 114, and source regions 122, to source terminal 126.

While the width of the gate trenches is generally kept as small as the manufacturing technology allows to maximize the packing density, a wider sinker trench is generally more desirable. A wider sinker trench is easier to fill, has lower resistance, and can more easily be extended deeper if needed. In one embodiment, sinker trench 106 and gate trenches 114 are formed at the same time. This is advantageous in that the sinker trench is self-aligned to the active region. In this embodiment, the widths of the sinker trench and the gate trenches and spacing S1 between sinker trench 106 and the active region need to be carefully selected taking into account a number of factors. First, a ratio of width Ws of sinker trench 106 to width Wg of gate trenches 112 needs to be selected so that upon completion of the trench etch step sinker trench 106 and gate trenches 112 terminate at the desired depths. Second, the width ratio as well as spacing S1 needs to be carefully selected to minimize micro-loading effect which occurs when trenches with different features are simultaneously etched. Micro-loading effect, if not addressed properly, may cause trenches with a wide opening have a wider bottom than top. This can lead to such problems as formation of pin-holes in the conductive material in the sinker trench. The micro-loading effect can also be minimized by selecting proper etch material. Third, the widths of the trenches and spacing S1 impact the device on-resistance Ron. In the article by A. Andreini, et al., titled “A New Integrated Silicon Gate Technology Combining Bipolar Linear, CMOS Logic, and DMOS Power Parts,” IEEE Transaction on Electron Devices, Vol. ED-33, No. 12, December, 1986, pp 2025-2030, a formula is set forth in section IV-B at page 2028 which can be used to determine the optimum trench widths and spacing S1 for the desired Ron. Although the power device described in this article uses a diffusion sinker, the same principles relating to optimizing Ron can be applied in the present invention. This article is incorporated herein by reference.

The ratio of the width of the sinker trench to that of the gate trenches is also dependent on the type of conductive material used in the sinker trench. In general, a ratio of the sinker trench width to the gate trench width of less than 10:1 is desirable. In one embodiment wherein doped polysilicon is used as the conductive material, a ratio of sinker trench width to gate trench width of less than 5:1 is desirable. For example, for a gate trench width of 0.5 μm, a sinker trench width in the range of about 0.7 μm to 2.5 μm would be selected. If a metal or other highly conductive material is used in the sinker trench, a higher ratio (e.g., 3:1) is more desirable. Other than the relative width of the trenches, spacing S1 between the sinker trench and the active region also impacts the micro-loading effect. A smaller spacing generally results in reduced micro-loading effect.

In one embodiment, the depth of the gate trenches in the epitaxial layer is selected to be close to the interface between substrate 102 and epitaxial layer 104 so that a slightly wider sinker trench would reach through to contact substrate 102. In an alternate embodiment, both the gate trenches and the sinker trench terminate within substrate 102.

In another embodiment, the sinker trench and the gate trenches are formed at different times. Thought the sinker trench would not be self-aligned to the active region, spacing S1 is not a critical dimension. Advantages of forming the two trenches at different times include elimination of the micro-loading effect, and the ability to optimize each trench separately.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method of forming the power transistor shown in FIG. 1 wherein the sinker trench and gate trenches are formed simultaneously, is as follows. Epitaxial layer 104 is formed over substrate 102. Next, a masking layer is used to pattern the gate trench and sinker trench openings. Conventional plasma etch techniques are used to etch the silicon to form the sinker trench and gate trenches. An insulating layer, e.g., oxide, is then formed along sidewalls and bottom of both the gate trenches and the sinker trench. Increasing the insulating thickness or increase in the dielectric constant of the insulating material is advantageous in minimizing the area between the depletion region and sinker trench, distance S1, as some of the voltage from the depletion layer will be supported by the insulating layer thus reducing consumed silicon area by use of a sinker trench.

A nitride layer is formed over the oxide layer in all trenches. The oxide and nitride layers are then removed from the bottom of the sinker trench using conventional photolithography and anisotropic etch techniques thus leaving an oxide-nitride bi-layer along the sinker trench sidewalls. Alternatively, a combination of anisotropic and isotropic etching or isotropic etching alone can be used. The combination of anisotropic and isotropic etching can advantageously be used to respectively remove the nitride and oxide layers from lower sidewall portions of the trench sinker (e.g., those lower sidewall portions extending in the substrate or even in the epitaxial layer—this would advantageously reduce the on-resistance). The resulting thicker bi-layer of dielectric along sinker trench sidewalls is advantageously capable of withstanding higher drain voltages. The sinker trench and gate trenches are then filled with in-situ doped polysilicon. The doped polysilicon is then etched back to planarize the top of the polysilicon in the trenches with the top surface of epitaxial layer 104. Next, using a masking layer to cover the sinker trench, the polysilicon and oxide-nitride bi-layer are removed from the gate trenches. The gate trenches are then lined with a gate oxide layer and filled with gate polysilicon material. The excess gate polysilicon over the sinker trench is removed using a conventional photolithography and etch process to pattern the gate electrode. The remaining process steps for forming the insulating layer over the gate electrodes, the well regions, the source regions, the source and drain metal contact layers, as well as other steps to complete the device are carried out in accordance with conventional methods.

In an alternate method, after trenches are formed, a thick oxide layer (as mentioned above, to reduce the spacing of the sinker trench to the well region) is formed along the sidewalls and bottom of the gate and sinker trenches. The thick oxide layer is then removed from the bottom of the sinker trenches using conventional photolithography and anisotropic etch techniques thus leaving the sidewalls of the sinker trench lined with the thick oxide while the gate trenches are protected. Alternatively, a combination of anisotropic and isotropic etching can be used to also remove the thick oxide from lower portions of the trench sinker sidewalls. The oxide layer may act as a sacrificial insulating layer for the gate trenches to improve the gate oxide integrity. The sinker trench and gate trenches are then filled with in-situ doped polysilicon. The doped polysilicon is then etched back to planarize the top of the polysilicon in the trenches with the top surface of epitaxial layer 104. Next, using a masking layer to cover the sinker trench, the polysilicon and insulating layer are removed from the gate trenches. The gate trenches are then lined with a gate insulating layer and filled with gate polysilicon material. The excess gate polysilicon over the sinker trenches is removed using a conventional photolithography and etch process to pattern the gate electrode. The remaining process steps for forming the insulating layer over the gate electrodes, the well regions, the source regions, the source and drain metal contact layers, as well as other steps to complete the device are carried out in accordance with conventional methods.

In another method, once trenches are formed, an insulating layer, e.g., gate oxide, is formed (grown or deposited) along the sidewalls and bottom of the gate and sinker trenches. The gate oxide layer is then removed from the bottom of the sinker trenches using conventional photolithography and anisotropic etch techniques thus leaving an oxide layer lining the sidewalls of the sinker trench while the gate trenches are protected. Alternatively, a combination of anisotropic and isotropic etching or isotropic etching alone can be used. The combination of anisotropic and isotropic etching can advantageously be used to remove the gate oxide layer from lower sidewall portions of the trench sinker (e.g., those lower sidewall portions extending in the substrate or even in the epitaxial layer—this would advantageously reduce the on-resistance). The sinker trench and gate trenches are then filled with in-situ doped polysilicon. The doped polysilicon is then patterned using conventional photolithography techniques and etched to form both the sinker (drain) and gate electrodes. The remaining process steps for forming the insulating layer over the gate electrodes, the well regions, the source regions, the source and drain metal contact layers, as well as other steps to complete the device are carried out in accordance with conventional methods.

In yet another method, the sinker trench and gate trenches are formed independently by using separate masking steps. For example, using a first set of masks and processing steps the gate trenches are defined and etched, lined with gate oxide, and filled with polysilicon. Using a second set of masks and processing steps the sinker trench is defined and etched, lined with dielectric layer along its sidewalls, and filled with a conductive material. The order in which the sinker trench and gate trenches are formed may be reversed.

FIG. 2 shows a simplified top layout view of the power device with sinker trench in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The FIG. 2 layout view depicts a stripe-shaped cell configuration. Stripe-shaped gate trenches 212a extend vertically and terminate in horizontally-extending gate trenches 212b. As shown, the three groups of striped gate trenches are surrounded by a contiguous sinker trench 206. In an alternate embodiment shown in FIG. 3, sinker trenches 306 are disposed between groups of gate trenches (only two of which are shown) and are repeated at such frequency and spacing as dictated by the desired Ron. In one variation of this embodiment, to achieve the same Ron as the back-side drain contact approach, the spacing between adjacent sinker trenches needs to be two times the thickness of the wafer. For example, for a 4 mils thick wafer, the sinker trenches may be spaced from one another by approximately 8 mils. For even a lower Ron, the sinker trenches may be placed closer together. In yet another embodiment shown in FIG. 4, striped gate trenches 412 extend horizontally, and vertically extending sinker trenches 406 separate the different groups of gate trenches. Sinker trenches 406 are interconnected by a metal interconnect 432. Metal interconnect is shown as being enlarged along the right side of the figure forming a drain pad for bond-wire connection. Also a gate pad 430 is shown in a cut-out corner of one of the groups of gate trenches.

FIG. 5 shows a top view of a die housing the power device with sinker trenches in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The small circles depict the balls of a ball grid array package. The outer perimeter region 506 includes the sinker trench, and the balls in outer periphery region 506 thus provide the drain connection. Central region 507 represents the active region and the balls inside this region provide the source connection. The small square region 530 at the bottom left corner of central region 508 represents the gate pad and the ball inside region 530 provides the gate connection.

As is readily apparent, the sinker trench structure 106 in FIG. 1 may be used to bring the backside connection of any power device to the top surface and as such is not limited to use with vertical trenched-gate power MOSFETs. Same or similar sinker trench structures may be similarly integrated with such other vertically conducting power devices as planar gate MOSFETs (i.e., MOSFETs with the gate and its underlying channel region extending over and parallel to the silicon surface), and power diodes to make the anode or cathode contact regions available along the top for interconnection. Many other variations and alternatives are possible, including use of shielded gate and dual gate structures in different combinations with various charge balancing techniques many of which are described in detail in the above-referenced commonly assigned patent application Ser. No. 11/026,276 titled “Power Semiconductor Devices and Methods of Manufacture” filed Dec. 29, 2004, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Also, although FIGS. 2-5 show layout implementations based on the open cell configuration, the invention is not limited as such. The structure shown in FIG. 1 can also be implemented in any one of a number of well known closed cell configurations. Lastly, the dimensions in the cross section view in FIG. 1 and the top layout views in FIGS. 2-5 are not to scale and are merely illustrative.

Claims

1. A semiconductor power device comprising:

a plurality of groups of stripe-shaped trenches extending in a silicon region over a substrate;
a contiguous sinker trench completely surrounding each group of the plurality of stripe-shaped trenches so as to isolate the plurality of groups of stripe-shaped trenches from one another, the contiguous sinker trench extending from a top surface of the silicon region through the silicon region and terminating with in the substrate, the contiguous sinker trench being wider and extending deeper than the plurality of stripe-shape trenches, the contiguous sinker trench being lined with an insulator only along the sinker trench sidewalls so that a conductive material filling the contiguous sinker trench makes electrical contact with the substrate along the bottom of the contiguous sinker trench and makes electrical contact with an interconnect layer along the top of the contiguous sinker trench.

2. The semiconductor power device of claim 1 wherein the silicon region is an epitaxial layer and the plurality of stripe-shape trenches are gate trenches, the semiconductor device further comprising:

a well region of a second conductivity type in the epitaxial layer;
source regions of the first conductivity type in the well region, the source regions flanking the gate trenches;
a gate dielectric layer lining at least the sidewalls of each gate trench; and
a gate electrode at least partially filling each gate trench,
wherein a gate electrode contact layer electrically contacting the gate electrodes, a source contact layer electrically contacting the source regions, and a drain contact layer electrically contacting the substrate are all along one surface of the semiconductor power device.

3. The semiconductor power device of claim 1 wherein the conductive material includes one or more of doped polysilicon, selective epitaxial silicon (SEG), metal, and metallic compound.

4. The semiconductor power device of claim 1 wherein the insulator comprises one of oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, multilayer of oxide and nitride, a low k insulating material, and a high k insulating material.

5. The semiconductor power device of claim 1 wherein two of the plurality of groups of strip-shaped trenches include different number of strip-shaped trenches.

6. The semiconductor power device of claim 1 further comprising a back-side metal layer extending along a bottom surface of the substrate.

7. The semiconductor power device of claim 1 wherein the conductive material comprises polysilicon and a ratio of a width of the sinker trench to a width of each gate trench is less than five to one.

8. The semiconductor power device of claim 1 wherein the conductive material comprises a metal and a ratio of a width of the sinker trench to a width of each gate trench is less than three to one.

9. The semiconductor power device of claim 2 wherein the dielectric layer lining the sidewalls of the contiguous sinker trench is thicker than the gate dielectric layer.

10. The semiconductor power device of claim 2 wherein the dielectric layer lining the sidewalls of the contiguous sinker trench and the gate dielectric layer have the same thickness.

11. The semiconductor power device of claim 2 wherein each gate trench further includes a thick bottom dielectric below the gate electrode, the thick bottom dielectric having a greater thickness than that of the gate dielectric.

12. The semiconductor power device of claim 1 wherein each gate trench includes a shield electrode below the gate electrode, the gate and shield electrodes being insulated from one another.

Referenced Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
3404295 October 1968 Warner, Jr.
3412297 November 1968 Amlinger
3497777 February 1970 Teszner et al.
3564356 February 1971 Wilson
3660697 May 1972 Berglund et al.
4003072 January 11, 1977 Matsushita et al.
4011105 March 8, 1977 Paivinen et al.
4300150 November 10, 1981 Colak
4324038 April 13, 1982 Chang et al.
4326332 April 27, 1982 Kenney
4337474 June 29, 1982 Yukimoto
4338616 July 6, 1982 Bol
4345265 August 17, 1982 Blanchard
4445202 April 24, 1984 Geotze et al.
4568958 February 4, 1986 Baliga
4579621 April 1, 1986 Hine
4636281 January 13, 1987 Buiguez et al.
4638344 January 20, 1987 Cardwell, Jr.
4639761 January 27, 1987 Singer et al.
4673962 June 16, 1987 Chatterjee et al.
4694313 September 15, 1987 Beasom
4698653 October 6, 1987 Cardwell, Jr.
4716126 December 29, 1987 Cogan
4745079 May 17, 1988 Pfiester
4746630 May 24, 1988 Hui et al.
4754310 June 28, 1988 Coe
4767722 August 30, 1988 Blanchard
4774556 September 27, 1988 Fujii et al.
4801986 January 31, 1989 Chang et al.
4821095 April 11, 1989 Temple
4823176 April 18, 1989 Baliga et al.
4824793 April 25, 1989 Richardson et al.
4853345 August 1, 1989 Himelick
4868624 September 19, 1989 Grung et al.
4893160 January 9, 1990 Blanchard
4914058 April 3, 1990 Blanchard
4941026 July 10, 1990 Temple
4961100 October 2, 1990 Baliga et al.
4967245 October 30, 1990 Cogan et al.
4969028 November 6, 1990 Baliga
4974059 November 27, 1990 Kinzer
4990463 February 5, 1991 Mori
4992390 February 12, 1991 Chang
5023196 June 11, 1991 Johnsen et al.
5027180 June 25, 1991 Nishizawa et al.
5034785 July 23, 1991 Blanchard
5065273 November 12, 1991 Rajeevakumar
5071782 December 10, 1991 Mori
5072266 December 10, 1991 Bulucea et al.
5079608 January 7, 1992 Wodarczyk et al.
5105243 April 14, 1992 Nakagawa et al.
5111253 May 5, 1992 Korman et al.
5134448 July 28, 1992 Johnsen et al.
5142640 August 25, 1992 Iwamatsu
5156989 October 20, 1992 Williams et al.
5164325 November 17, 1992 Cogan et al.
5164802 November 17, 1992 Jones et al.
5168331 December 1, 1992 Yilmaz
5168973 December 8, 1992 Asayama et al.
5188973 February 23, 1993 Omura et al.
5208657 May 4, 1993 Chatterjee et al.
5216275 June 1, 1993 Chen
5219777 June 15, 1993 Kang
5219793 June 15, 1993 Cooper et al.
5233215 August 3, 1993 Baliga
5242845 September 7, 1993 Baba et al.
5250450 October 5, 1993 Lee et al.
5262336 November 16, 1993 Pike, Jr. et al.
5268311 December 7, 1993 Euen et al.
5270257 December 14, 1993 Shin
5275961 January 4, 1994 Smayling et al.
5275965 January 4, 1994 Manning
5281548 January 25, 1994 Prall
5283201 February 1, 1994 Tsang et al.
5283452 February 1, 1994 Shih et al.
5294824 March 15, 1994 Okada
5298761 March 29, 1994 Aoki et al.
5300447 April 5, 1994 Anderson
5300452 April 5, 1994 Chang et al.
5326711 July 5, 1994 Malhi
5346834 September 13, 1994 Hisamoto et al.
5349224 September 20, 1994 Gilbert et al.
5350937 September 27, 1994 Yamazaki et al.
5365102 November 15, 1994 Mehrotra et al.
5366914 November 22, 1994 Takahashi et al.
5378655 January 3, 1995 Hutchings et al.
5389815 February 14, 1995 Takahashi
5405794 April 11, 1995 Kim
5418376 May 23, 1995 Muraoka et al.
5424231 June 13, 1995 Yang
5429977 July 4, 1995 Lu et al.
5430311 July 4, 1995 Murakami et al.
5430324 July 4, 1995 Bencuya
5434435 July 18, 1995 Baliga
5436189 July 25, 1995 Beasom
5438007 August 1, 1995 Vinal et al.
5438215 August 1, 1995 Tihanyi
5442214 August 15, 1995 Yang
5473176 December 5, 1995 Kakumoto
5473180 December 5, 1995 Ludikhuize
5474943 December 12, 1995 Hshieh et al.
5488010 January 30, 1996 Wong
5519245 May 21, 1996 Tokura et al.
5532179 July 2, 1996 Chang et al.
5541425 July 30, 1996 Nishihara
5554552 September 10, 1996 Chi
5554862 September 10, 1996 Omura et al.
5567634 October 22, 1996 Hebert et al.
5567635 October 22, 1996 Acovic et al.
5572048 November 5, 1996 Sugawara
5576245 November 19, 1996 Cogan et al.
5578851 November 26, 1996 Hshieh et al.
5581100 December 3, 1996 Ajit
5583060 December 10, 1996 Hertrich et al.
5583065 December 10, 1996 Miwa
5589405 December 31, 1996 Contiero et al.
5592005 January 7, 1997 Floyd et al.
5593909 January 14, 1997 Han et al.
5595927 January 21, 1997 Chen et al.
5597765 January 28, 1997 Yilmaz et al.
5605852 February 25, 1997 Bencuya
5614749 March 25, 1997 Ueno
5616945 April 1, 1997 Williams
5623152 April 22, 1997 Majumdar et al.
5629543 May 13, 1997 Hshieh et al.
5637898 June 10, 1997 Baliga
5639676 June 17, 1997 Hshieh et al.
5640034 June 17, 1997 Malhi
5648283 July 15, 1997 Tsang et al.
5648670 July 15, 1997 Blanchard
5656843 August 12, 1997 Goodyear et al.
5665619 September 9, 1997 Kwan et al.
5670803 September 23, 1997 Beilstein, Jr. et al.
5684320 November 4, 1997 Kawashima
5689128 November 18, 1997 Hshieh et al.
5693569 December 2, 1997 Ueno
5705409 January 6, 1998 Witek
5710072 January 20, 1998 Krautschneider et al.
5714781 February 3, 1998 Yamamoto et al.
5717237 February 10, 1998 Chi
5719409 February 17, 1998 Singh et al.
5721148 February 24, 1998 Nishimura
5744372 April 28, 1998 Bulucea
5767004 June 16, 1998 Balasubramanian et al.
5770878 June 23, 1998 Beasom
5776813 July 7, 1998 Huang et al.
5780343 July 14, 1998 Bashir
5801082 September 1, 1998 Tseng
5801417 September 1, 1998 Tsang et al.
5814858 September 29, 1998 Williams
5821583 October 13, 1998 Hshieh et al.
5877528 March 2, 1999 So
5879971 March 9, 1999 Witek
5879994 March 9, 1999 Kwan et al.
5891776 April 6, 1999 Han et al.
5894157 April 13, 1999 Han et al.
5895951 April 20, 1999 So et al.
5895952 April 20, 1999 Darwish et al.
5897343 April 27, 1999 Mathew et al.
5897360 April 27, 1999 Kawaguchi
5900663 May 4, 1999 Johnson et al.
5906680 May 25, 1999 Meyerson
5907776 May 25, 1999 Hshieh et al.
5917216 June 29, 1999 Floyd et al.
5929481 July 27, 1999 Hshieh et al.
5943581 August 24, 1999 Lu et al.
5945708 August 31, 1999 Tihanyi
5949104 September 7, 1999 D'Anna et al.
5949124 September 7, 1999 Hadizad et al.
5959324 September 28, 1999 Kohyama
5960271 September 28, 1999 Wollesen et al.
5960311 September 28, 1999 Singh et al.
5972741 October 26, 1999 Kubo et al.
5973360 October 26, 1999 Tihanyi
5973367 October 26, 1999 Williams
5976936 November 2, 1999 Miyajima et al.
5977591 November 2, 1999 Fratin et al.
5981344 November 9, 1999 Hshieh et al.
5981354 November 9, 1999 Spikes et al.
5981996 November 9, 1999 Fujishima
5998833 December 7, 1999 Baliga
6005271 December 21, 1999 Hshieh
6008097 December 28, 1999 Yoon et al.
6008520 December 28, 1999 Darwish et al.
6011298 January 4, 2000 Blanchard
6015727 January 18, 2000 Wanlass
6020250 February 1, 2000 Kenney
6034415 March 7, 2000 Johnson et al.
6037202 March 14, 2000 Witek
6037628 March 14, 2000 Huang
6037632 March 14, 2000 Omura et al.
6037633 March 14, 2000 Shinohara
6040600 March 21, 2000 Uenishi et al.
6048772 April 11, 2000 D'Anna
6049108 April 11, 2000 Williams et al.
6051488 April 18, 2000 Lee et al.
6057558 May 2, 2000 Yamamoto et al.
6063678 May 16, 2000 D'Anna
6064088 May 16, 2000 D'Anna
6066878 May 23, 2000 Neilson
6069043 May 30, 2000 Floyd et al.
6072215 June 6, 2000 Kawaji et al.
6077733 June 20, 2000 Chen et al.
6081009 June 27, 2000 Neilson
6084264 July 4, 2000 Darwish
6084268 July 4, 2000 de Frésart et al.
6087232 July 11, 2000 Kim et al.
6096608 August 1, 2000 Williams
6097063 August 1, 2000 Fujihira
6103578 August 15, 2000 Uenishi et al.
6103619 August 15, 2000 Lai
6104054 August 15, 2000 Corsi et al.
6110799 August 29, 2000 Huang
6114727 September 5, 2000 Ogura et al.
6121089 September 19, 2000 Zeng et al.
6133634 October 17, 2000 Joshi
6137152 October 24, 2000 Wu
6140678 October 31, 2000 Grabowski et al.
6150697 November 21, 2000 Teshigahara et al.
6156606 December 5, 2000 Michaelis
6156611 December 5, 2000 Lan et al.
6163052 December 19, 2000 Liu et al.
6165870 December 26, 2000 Shim et al.
6168983 January 2, 2001 Rumennik et al.
6168996 January 2, 2001 Numazawa et al.
6171935 January 9, 2001 Nance et al.
6174769 January 16, 2001 Lou
6174773 January 16, 2001 Fujishima
6174785 January 16, 2001 Parekh et al.
6184092 February 6, 2001 Tseng et al.
6184545 February 6, 2001 Werner et al.
6184555 February 6, 2001 Tihanyi et al.
6188104 February 13, 2001 Choi et al.
6188105 February 13, 2001 Kocon et al.
6190978 February 20, 2001 D'Anna
6191447 February 20, 2001 Baliga
6194741 February 27, 2001 Kinzer et al.
6198127 March 6, 2001 Kocon
6201279 March 13, 2001 Pfirsch
6204097 March 20, 2001 Shen et al.
6207994 March 27, 2001 Rumennik et al.
6222229 April 24, 2001 Hebert et al.
6222233 April 24, 2001 D'Anna
6225649 May 1, 2001 Minato
6228727 May 8, 2001 Lim et al.
6229194 May 8, 2001 Lizotte
6239463 May 29, 2001 Williams et al.
6239464 May 29, 2001 Tsuchitani et al.
6246090 June 12, 2001 Brush et al.
6262453 July 17, 2001 Hshieh
6265269 July 24, 2001 Chen et al.
6271082 August 7, 2001 Hou et al.
6271100 August 7, 2001 Ballantine et al.
6271552 August 7, 2001 D'Anna
6271562 August 7, 2001 Deboy et al.
6274437 August 14, 2001 Evans
6274904 August 14, 2001 Tihanyi
6274905 August 14, 2001 Mo
6277706 August 21, 2001 Ishikawa
6281547 August 28, 2001 So et al.
6285060 September 4, 2001 Korec et al.
6291298 September 18, 2001 Williams et al.
6291856 September 18, 2001 Miyasaka et al.
6294818 September 25, 2001 Fujihira
6297534 October 2, 2001 Kawaguchi et al.
6303969 October 16, 2001 Tan
6307246 October 23, 2001 Nitta et al.
6309920 October 30, 2001 Laska et al.
6313482 November 6, 2001 Baliga
6316806 November 13, 2001 Mo
6326656 December 4, 2001 Tihanyi
6337499 January 8, 2002 Werner
6346464 February 12, 2002 Takeda et al.
6346469 February 12, 2002 Greer
6351018 February 26, 2002 Sapp
6353252 March 5, 2002 Yasuhara et al.
6359308 March 19, 2002 Hijzen et al.
6362112 March 26, 2002 Hamerski
6362505 March 26, 2002 Tihanyi
6365462 April 2, 2002 Baliga
6365930 April 2, 2002 Schillaci et al.
6368920 April 9, 2002 Beasom
6368921 April 9, 2002 Hijzen et al.
6373097 April 16, 2002 Werner
6373098 April 16, 2002 Brush et al.
6373100 April 16, 2002 Pages et al.
6376314 April 23, 2002 Jerred
6376315 April 23, 2002 Hshieh et al.
6376878 April 23, 2002 Kocon
6376890 April 23, 2002 Tihanyi
6384456 May 7, 2002 Tihanyi
6388286 May 14, 2002 Baliga
6388287 May 14, 2002 Deboy et al.
6392290 May 21, 2002 Kasem et al.
6396102 May 28, 2002 Calafut
6400003 June 4, 2002 Huang
6413822 July 2, 2002 Williams et al.
6426260 July 30, 2002 Hshieh
6429481 August 6, 2002 Mo et al.
6433385 August 13, 2002 Kocon et al.
6436779 August 20, 2002 Hurkx et al.
6437399 August 20, 2002 Huang
6441454 August 27, 2002 Hijzen et al.
6444527 September 3, 2002 Floyd et al.
6444574 September 3, 2002 Chu
6452230 September 17, 2002 Boden, Jr.
6455379 September 24, 2002 Brush et al.
6459122 October 1, 2002 Uno
6461918 October 8, 2002 Calafut
6465304 October 15, 2002 Blanchard et al.
6465843 October 15, 2002 Hirler et al.
6465869 October 15, 2002 Ahlers et al.
6472678 October 29, 2002 Hshieh et al.
6472708 October 29, 2002 Hshieh et al.
6475884 November 5, 2002 Hshieh et al.
6476443 November 5, 2002 Kinzer
6479352 November 12, 2002 Blanchard
6489652 December 3, 2002 Jeon et al.
6501146 December 31, 2002 Harada
6509240 January 21, 2003 Ren et al.
6518127 February 11, 2003 Hshieh et al.
6521497 February 18, 2003 Mo
6534825 March 18, 2003 Calafut
6566804 May 20, 2003 Trujillo et al.
6580123 June 17, 2003 Thapar
6583010 June 24, 2003 Mo
6600194 July 29, 2003 Hueting et al.
6608350 August 19, 2003 Kinzer et al.
6621107 September 16, 2003 Blanchard et al.
6627949 September 30, 2003 Blanchard
6635534 October 21, 2003 Madson
6649459 November 18, 2003 Deboy et al.
6653740 November 25, 2003 Kinzer et al.
6657254 December 2, 2003 Hshieh et al.
6677641 January 13, 2004 Kocon
6677643 January 13, 2004 Iwamoto et al.
6683346 January 27, 2004 Zeng
6689662 February 10, 2004 Blanchard
6710402 March 23, 2004 Harada
6710406 March 23, 2004 Mo et al.
6713813 March 30, 2004 Marchant
6720616 April 13, 2004 Hirler et al.
6724042 April 20, 2004 Onishi et al.
6734066 May 11, 2004 Lin et al.
6750508 June 15, 2004 Omura et al.
6756636 June 29, 2004 Onishi et al.
6762127 July 13, 2004 Boiteux et al.
6781195 August 24, 2004 Wu et al.
6806533 October 19, 2004 Henninger et al.
6818482 November 16, 2004 Horch et al.
6818513 November 16, 2004 Marchant
6821824 November 23, 2004 Minato et al.
6833584 December 21, 2004 Henninger et al.
6833585 December 21, 2004 Kim et al.
6878994 April 12, 2005 Thapar
6892098 May 10, 2005 Ayal et al.
6921939 July 26, 2005 Zeng
7005351 February 28, 2006 Henninger et al.
7033876 April 25, 2006 Darwish et al.
7091573 August 15, 2006 Hirler et al.
7345342 March 18, 2008 Challa et al.
7352036 April 1, 2008 Grebs et al.
20010020720 September 13, 2001 Hueting et al.
20020038886 April 4, 2002 Mo
20030060013 March 27, 2003 Marchant et al.
20030062622 April 3, 2003 Pavier et al.
20030235936 December 25, 2003 Snyder et al.
20040108554 June 10, 2004 Hshieh et al.
20040232407 November 25, 2004 Calafut
20050017293 January 27, 2005 Zundel et al.
20080142883 June 19, 2008 Grebs et al.
Foreign Patent Documents
1036666 October 1989 CN
4300806 December 1993 DE
19736981 August 1998 DE
10214160 October 2003 DE
102004057235 June 2006 DE
133642 June 1985 EP
288739 February 1988 EP
292782 November 1988 EP
747967 December 1996 EP
975024 January 2000 EP
1026749 August 2000 EP
1054451 November 2000 EP
1205980 May 2002 EP
56-058267 May 1981 JP
62-069562 March 1987 JP
63-186475 August 1988 JP
63-288047 November 1988 JP
64-022051 January 1989 JP
01-192174 August 1989 JP
05-226638 September 1993 JP
2000-040822 February 2000 JP
2000-040872 February 2000 JP
2000-156978 June 2000 JP
2000-277726 October 2000 JP
2000-277728 October 2000 JP
2001-015448 January 2001 JP
2001-015752 January 2001 JP
2001-102577 April 2001 JP
2001-111041 April 2001 JP
2001-135819 May 2001 JP
2001-144292 May 2001 JP
2001-244461 September 2001 JP
2001-313391 December 2001 JP
2002-083976 March 2002 JP
WO 00/33386 June 2000 WO
WO 00/68997 November 2000 WO
WO 00/68998 November 2000 WO
WO 00/75965 December 2000 WO
WO 01/06550 January 2001 WO
WO 01/06557 January 2001 WO
WO 01/45155 June 2001 WO
WO 01/59847 August 2001 WO
WO 01/71815 September 2001 WO
WO 01/95385 December 2001 WO
WO 01/95398 December 2001 WO
WO 02/01644 January 2002 WO
WO 02/47171 June 2002 WO
WO 2006/017376 February 2006 WO
Other references
  • Andreini et al. A New Integrated Silicon Gate Technology Combining Bipolar Linear, CMOS Logic, and DMOS Power Parts, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Dec. 1986, pp. 2025-2030, vol. ED-33.
  • Bai et al., “Novel automated optimization of power MOSFET for 12V input, high-frequency DC-DC converter,” International Symposium on Power Semiconductors and ICs, Technical Digest, 2003, pp. 366-369.
  • Baliga “New Concepts in Power Rectifiers,” Physics of Semiconductor Devices, Proceedings of the Third Int'l Workshop, Madras (India), Committee on Science and Technology in Developing Countries, 1985, pp. 471-481.
  • Baliga “Options for CVD of Dielectrics Include Low-k Materials,” Technical Literature from Semiconductor International, Jun. 1998, 4 pages.
  • Baliga et al., “Improving the reverse recovery of power MOSFET integral diodes by electron irradiation,” Solid State Electronics, Dec. 1983, pp. 1133-1141, vol. 26, No. 12.
  • Brown et al. Novel Trench Gate Structure Developments Set the Benchmark for Next Generation Power MOSFET Switching Performance. Power Electronics—May 2003 Proceedings (PCIM), Nurenburg, 2003, pp. 275-278, vol. 47.
  • Bulucea “Trench DMOS Transistor Technology for High Current (100 A Range) Switching” Solid-State Electronics, 1991, pp. 493-507, vol. 34.
  • Chang et al. “Self-Aligned UMOSFET's with a Specific On-Resistance of 1mΩ cm2,” IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, 1987, pp. 2329-2334, vol. 34.
  • Cheng et al., “Fast reverse recovery body diode in high-voltage VDMOSFET using cell-distributed schottky contacts,” IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, May 2003, pp. 1422-1425, vol. 50, No. 5.
  • Curtis, et al. “APCVD TEOS: 03 Advanced Trench Isolation Applications,” Semiconductor Fabtech 9th Edition,1999, 8 pages.
  • “CoolMOSä the second generation,” Infineon Technologies product information, 2000, 2 pages.
  • Darwish et al. A New Power W-Gated Trench MOSFET (WMOSFET) with High Switching Performance. ISPSD Proceedings—Apr. 14-17, 2003, 4 pages, Cambridge.
  • Djekic, O. et al., “High frequency synchronous buck converter for low voltage applications,” Proc. IEEE Power Electronics Specialist Conf. (PESC),1998, pp. 1248-1254.
  • Fujihira “Theory of Semiconductor Superjunction Devices” Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. Oct. 1997, pp. 6254-6262, vol. 36.
  • Gan et al. “Poly Flanked VDMOS (PFVDMOS): A Superior Technology for Superjunction Devices,” IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference, Jun. 17-22, 2001, Vancouver, Canada, 2001, pp. 2156-2159.
  • Glenn et al. “A Novel Vertical Deep Trench RESURF DMOS (VTR-DMOS)” IEEE ISPD 2000, May 22-25, pp. 197-200, Toulouse France.
  • Heyes, “Wafer-Scale Packaging for Power Discrete Products” Philips Semiconductors BI Power Products, 3 pages.
  • “IR develops CoolMOSä -equivalent technology, positions it at the top of a 3-tiered line of new products for SMPS,” International Rectifiers company information, 1999, 3 pages, printed on Dec. 4, 2008 at URL: http://www.irf.com.
  • Kao et al. “Two Dimensional Thermal Oxidation of Silicon-II. Modeling Stress Effects in Wet Oxides,” IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, vol. ED-35, No. 1, Jan. 1988, pp. 25-37.
  • Kao et al. “Two Dimensional Thermal Oxidation of Silicon-I. Experiments,”, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, May 1987, pp. 1008-1017, vol. ED-34, No. 5.
  • Kassakian, J.G. et al., “High-frequency high-density converters for distributed power supply systems,” Proceedings of the IEEE, Apr. 1988, pp. 362-376, vol. 76, No. 4.
  • Korman, C.S. et al., “High performance power DMOSFET with integrated schottky diode,” Proc. IEEE Power Electronics Specialist Conf. (PESC), 1989, pp. 176-179.
  • Lorenz et al., “Cool MOS—An important milestone towards a new power MOSFET generation” Power Conversion, 1988, pp. 151-160.
  • Maksimovic, A.M. et al., “Modeling and simulation of power electronic converters,” Proceedings of the IEEE, Jun. 2001, pp. 898-912, vol. 89, No. 6.
  • Mehrotra, M. et al., “Very low forward drop JBS rectifiers fabricated using submicron technology,” IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Nov. 1993, pp. 2131-2132, vol. 40, No. 11.
  • Miller, “Power Management & Supply—Market, Applications Technologies—an Overview,” Infineon Technologies, downloaded from the internet <<http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r8/germany/ias-pels/mregensburg/overviewmiller.pdf>>, May 5, 2003, 53 pages total.
  • Mirchandani et al. A Novel N-Channel MOSFET Featuring an Integrated Schottky and No Internal P-N Junction Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs, 2004. Proceedings. ISPSD'04. The 16th International Symposium on May 24-27, 2004, pp. 405-408.
  • Moghadam “Delivering Value Around New Industry Paradigms,” Technical Literature from Applied Materials, Nov. 1999, 15 pages, vol. 1, issue 2.
  • Park et al., “Lateral Trench Gate Super-Junction SOI-LDMOSFETs with Low On-Resistance,” Institute for Microelectronics, University of Technology Vienna, Austria, 2002, pp. 283-286.
  • Sakai et al., “Experimental investigation of dependence of electrical characteristics of device parameters in trench MOS barrier, schottky diodes,” International Symposium on Power Semiconductors and ICs, Technical Digest, 1998, pp. 293-296.
  • Shenai et al., “Current transport mechanisms in atomically abrupt metal-semiconductor interfaces,” IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Apr. 1988, pp. 468-482, vol. 35, No. 4.
  • Shenai et al., “Monolithically integrated power MOSFET and schottky diode with improved reverse recovery characteristics,” IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Apr. 1990, pp. 1167-1169, vol. 37, No. 4.
  • Shenoy et al.“Analysis of the Effect of Charge Imbalance on the Static and Dynamic Characteristic of the Super Junction MOSFET,” IEEE International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices 1999, pp. 99-102.
  • Singer “Empty Spaces in Silicon (ESS): An Alternative to SOI,” Semiconductor International, Dec. 1999, p. 42.
  • Tabisz et al., “A MOSFET resonant synchronous rectifier for high-frequency dc/dc converters,” Proc. IEEE Power Electronics Specialist Conf. (PESC), 1990, pp. 769-779.
  • Technical Literature from Quester Technology, Model APT-4300 300mm Atmospheric TEOS/Ozone CVD System, 2 pages.
  • Technical Literature from Quester Technology, Model APT-6000 Atmospheric TEOS-Ozone CVD System, 4 pages.
  • Technical Literature from Silicon Valley Group Thermal Systems, APNext: The Next Generation of APCVD Products, 2 pages total.
  • Tu et al. “On the reverse blocking characteristics of schottky power diodes,” IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Dec. 1992, pp. 2813-2814, vol. 39, No. 12.
  • Ueda et al. “An Ultra-Low On-Resistance Power MOSFET Fabricated by Using a Fully Self-Aligned Process,” IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, 1987, pp. 926-930, vol. 34.
  • Wilamowski “Schottky Diodes with High Breakdown Voltages,” Solid-State Electronics, 1983, pp. 491-493, vol. 26.
  • Wolf et al., “Silicon Processing for The VLSI Era” vol. 1—Process Technology, Second Edition, 1990, p. 658.
  • Wolf, “Silicon Processing for The VLSI Era” vol. 2 Process Integration Lattice Press,1990, 3 pages.
  • Yamashita et al., Conduction Power loss in MOSFET synchronous rectifier with parallel-connected schottky barrier diode, IEEE Transactions on Power electronics, Jul. 1998, pp. 667-673, vol. 13, No. 4.
  • Zeng “An Improved Power MOSFET Using a Novel Split Well Structure”. Harris Corporation, Semiconductor Section, Technical Publication, 1999, 4 pages.
  • Zeng et al. An Ultra Dense Trench-Gated Power MOSFET Technology Using a Self-Aligned Process, Intersil Corporation, Technical Publication, 2001, pp. 147-150.
  • Andreini et al. A New Integrated Silicon Gate Technology Combining Bipolar Linear, CMOS Logic, and DMOS Power Parts, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Dec. 1986, pp. 2025-2030, vol. ED-33.
  • Requirement for Restriction/Election for U.S. Appl. No. 11/194,060, mailed on Nov. 13, 2006, 5 pages.
  • Requirement for Restriction/Election for U.S. Appl. No. 11/194,060, mailed on Jan. 30, 2007, 6 pages.
  • Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 11/194,060, mailed on Apr. 10, 2007, 9 pages.
  • Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 11/194,060, mailed on Jul. 27, 2007, 22 pages.
  • Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 11/194,060, mailed on Oct. 19, 2007, 6 pages.
  • Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 12/038,184, mailed on Dec. 4, 2009, 29 pages.
  • International Search Report on Patentability for Application No. PCT/US2005/026928, mailed on Jun. 20, 2007, 1 page.
  • Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority for Application No. PCT/US2005/026928, mailed on Jun. 20, 2007, 3 pages.
  • International Preliminary Report on Patentability for Application No. PCT/US2005/026928, mailed on Jul. 10, 2007, 4 pages.
  • Office Action for Application No. A 9304/2005, mailed on Jul. 17, 2008, 3 pages.
  • Office Action for Application No. CN 200580024408.1, mailed on Aug. 1, 2008, 5 pages.
  • Notice of Preliminary Rejection for Application No. KR 10-2007-7005115, mailed Dec. 24, 2007, 19 pages including English Translation.
  • Notice of Allowance for Application No. KR 10-2007-7005115, mailed on Apr. 24, 2008, 3 pages.
Patent History
Patent number: 8026558
Type: Grant
Filed: Jun 7, 2010
Date of Patent: Sep 27, 2011
Patent Publication Number: 20100237415
Assignee: Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation (San Jose, CA)
Inventors: Thomas E. Grebs (Mountaintop, PA), Gary M. Dolny (Mountaintop, PA)
Primary Examiner: Dung A. Le
Attorney: Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
Application Number: 12/794,936